


Help

by Scatterbrained



Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-13 13:22:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13571430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scatterbrained/pseuds/Scatterbrained
Summary: When the Inquisitor discovers Cullen's been sending his siblings a small amount of money fortnightly, she takes it upon herself to make sure the money's taken from her coin, not his.Everything's fine until he finds out.





	Help

 

The Inquisitor discovers Cullen's been sending his siblings money fortnightly on a rainy Tuesday evening.

Standing by Josephine's desk, she's about to head off after discussing the matter of Lord Monterrey with her. A simple matter: that of a noble wishing that the Inquisitor attend their next soiree. Josephine had taken it upon herself to ask the Inquisitor about it before replying, in case she wanted to attend, due to Lord Monterrey’s close ties with the Trevelyan's.

The reply had been a polite but empathetic no thanks, signed Lady Montilyet-style.

It was then she saw it.

Two lines of Josephine's cursive writing, halfway down a worn piece of paper. The end of the line had a small arrow next to it; Josephine's signature way of checking off her list.

"I didn’t know we sent money to a Rutherford in South Reach.”

Josephine looked up from her papers, eyes a little whiter than usual.

"Ah, Inquisitor, that's..." She swallowed. "A delicate matter."

Evelyn’s eyebrows narrowed a little. "Delicate for whom?"

"Well, you see, it's...” Josephine shifted on her chair. Finally, she put her pen down and entwined both hands. “Our Commander has asked that a part of his wages - most of it, in fact - be sent to his family in South Reach. Two sisters and a brother.” She straightened. “He also asked that this be kept confidential."

"I see."

Evelyn’s eyebrows drew together a little, thoughts stretching. Outside the twin windows evening had lowered its blanket over the surrounding mountains, painting the sky a deep but fading pink. Josephine observed the Inquisitor looking out that window. She would have returned to the piles of correspondence on the great wooden desk, but before she could, she had walked back to its other side.

Josephine noticed the soft smile on the Trevelyan's lips. She knew that look.

It was the look of a woman with a plan.

"Here's what we'll do,” said Evelyn. “I want you to keep sending money to Mia Rutherford. But I want you to use my coin, not Cullen's."

"But Inquisitor, if he were to find out—“

"He won't.”

Josephine opened her mouth to say something, unsure of what, but knew whatever argument she would mount would be useless against Trevelyan’s determinacy. Depending on mood, arguing with the Inquisitor could be like trying to stand one’s ground against a thunderstorm.

“As you wish, Inquisitor. I shall have it set up so.”

“Thank you, Josephine.”

Before Evelyn walked off, Josephine added, not without the hint of a smile, “But if he does find out? I am sending him directly to you.”

Evelyn smiled over her shoulder before heading out of Josephine’s office.

 

 

 

He did find out.

It took a month and another fortnight, but on a gentle-winded evening Commander Cullen marched into Josephine's office… room. Reception.

(She wasn’t sure what to call it.)

"Ambassador."

She looked up from her ever-present pile of papers, knowing the slight headache she’d been developing would not lessen with his arrival.

"Yes, Commander?"

He lowered his voice a little, though the boom was still there. "Our agreement regarding my wages. Is it not still intact?"

Josephine pushed her feet together beneath the desk.

"It is most intact."

"Then why am I being paid in full? I read the financial report this afternoon and there should not be such an amount left for me."

Josephine pursed her lips, considering whether to make something up on the spot or keep her word to the Inquisitor from last month.

"I think it is best you discuss the matter with Lady Trevelyan."

Cullen's eyebrows tightened. "The Inquisitor? What would she..."

 Josephine shrugged. "It was her idea."

A moment passed.

“I see.”

Cullen looked out the window a moment, thinking. Josephine remembered the Inquisitor doing exactly the same, a little over a month ago, and let the levity of the thought ease her headache as she went back to work.

Eventually Cullen turned to Josephine.

"Where is the Inquisitor now?"

"I believe she has retired for the evening."

Cullen nodded. "Then I will discuss the matter with her in the morning. Good evening, Josephine.”

“Evening, Commander.”

Cullen headed out into the great hall, walking the wolfish walk of a man trying to understand why things had happened the way they had.

 

 

 

Cullen would have discussed the matter with the Inquisitor, just as he’d told their ambassador… had Trevelyan not been standing out in the great hall as he walked out of Josephine’s office.

She looked lovely amidst the firelight: the blue jacket she wore reinforced her stature, making her look strong and regal at the same time. There was a softness about her that evening enforced; the firelight made her strong facial features a little softer, her eyes a little kinder. He could see hints of tiredness in the way she held her shoulders a little less square than usual, but given the events of the past days, weeks… months… he couldn’t fault her. They were all feeling the effects of maintaining and keeping the Inquisition the mighty organization it had become.

None more than the one leading it.

Cullen walked up to her where she stood conversing with Varric over by the fireplace.

“Inquisitor. I was wondering if you have a moment.”

Varric raised an eyebrow. Cullen narrowed his eyes.

The Dwarf held up both hands, smiling. 

"I didn't say a thing, Curly."

Cullen frowned but thought better of it. It wasn’t worth bothering. Instead, he turned to Evelyn.

“We can use my office.”

Behind her, Varric chuckled.

Evelyn looked behind her, then back at Cullen, and to his surprise she was smiling a little.

“Behave, Varric.”

He feigned a bow. “Always do, my lady. I always do…”

Together, the Inquisitor and Cullen walked out onto the rampart bridge that connected the castle to Cullen’s office in the tower. Above them the sky was a deep royal blue, flecked in spots with white and grey clouds. The wind bit into their cheeks, as it always did, here among the top of mountains. But something Evelyn appreciated as she left room for Cullen to walk through the door to his office first: you could almost always see the stars.

After she’d closed the door she watched Cullen behind his desk, both hands leaning on it as if he was contemplating how to say whatever was on his mind. The heaps of reports and papers on his desk lay in uneven heaps; a candle flickered in the perpetual draft. She walked a few steps into the room, stood there, waiting.

What was on his mind that couldn’t wait till morning?

“Forgive me for bringing you here this late, Inquisitor, but I felt it was best to address the matter at once.”

“Did Bull use all the shields in the armory again?” she attempted lightly.

“What? No, I… he may have, but that was not the reason I asked to speak with you.” Cullen paused, straightened, hand on the hilt of his sword. “It has come to my attention that the Inquisition has supplemented coin that was to be taken from my wages and sent to South Reach.”

 _Ah_.

Now she knew why she was here.

But… what to say? How to explain in the simplest terms what to her was both simple and tangled, to him undoubtedly the same. She felt uneasy knowing that letting him know it had been her decision would admit things she wasn't sure she was ready to admit.

Things like, I care for you. A great deal. And, in caring for you, I extend that care to people you care for also.

_Let me help you._

_Let me lo—_

(Shit. Damnit.)

But there was no simple way to say any of that, so she didn't.

She took a few steps towards his desk. The stone walls were quiet, enhancing the silence surrounding them.

“The Inquisition is happy to do this.”

“This is not a matter for the Inquisition. This was a personal request I made to our ambassador. I will not accept that the Inquisition treasury be lightened for my personal needs.”

She watched him, trying to see through his words. He had such a strong sense of right and wrong, of duty… he commanded an army by day, followed duty diligently. Took care of the Inquisition’s army. Took care of his family.

Who took care of him?

“Your sister still thinks the money comes from you,” she tried.

He sighed. “The matter is not whether or not she believes the coin comes from me. The matter is—”

“Cullen.”

She approached him at the side of the great wooden desk. She put her hand on his arm near his elbow, where the vambrace didn’t reach.

“I didn’t mean to overstep. It’s just… you give so much to the Inquisition. It’s time the Inquisition gave back.”

He considered her words – or perhaps his rebuttal of her argument. It was hard to tell. She watched the war in him play out, one part fighting the other, an enclosed storm within one man raging.

Finally, Cullen sighed.

“When my family relocated to South Reach after the Blight… our parents did not survive.” Cullen’s hand went to his neck. “And I… I wasn’t there. Wasn’t much help afterwards, either. Not in the state I was in.”

He spoke of himself with such disdain that her heart clenched. Why couldn’t he see the man he’d become, instead of the shadows that haunted him still? He had survived torture, managed to pull himself together, become _strong_ not again but by using the strength he’d always had within, as he went from Knight-Captain to Knight-Commander and now Commander of the Inquisition’s forces – and yet, the offenses he thought he’d committed in the past were, in his mind, unforgivable to this day.

Evelyn wished he could see himself through her eyes, the way she saw him. As the Commander. As a solid, protecting and proud man who had earned the right to be. As someone indispensable with advice and an honest opinion, whose morality remained unwavering even after all he’d been through.

As the man she _knew_ would beat Lyrium addiction.

The man whose mouth was scarred but still smiled; as the man who made her heart skip a beat when he did.

The man whose pain she wished she could take away, end his suffering, as the man whom she…

Her heart clenched.

Cullen took a step toward her; their feet touched. He looked into her eyes with conviction.

“At last I have a chance to aid them. I had to take it.”

She squeezed his arm. Hazel eyes met blue, grounded earth meeting stormy waters.

“You _are_ helping them, Cullen. Both through aiding them with coin, but also through your work here, for us, with the Inquisition. You are fighting to give your siblings a world to _live_  in. That is as commendable as the coin you send them.”

His lips parted momentarily.

“I… thank you, Inquisitor.”

“Now. Will you let me…”

 _Shit_.

“Will you let the Inquisition aid your siblings the way you aid it?”

Cullen’s eyes softened a little.

“Allright.”

Evelyn smiled. “I’m glad that’s settled.”

Cullen’s featured softened, into something soft and warm that was almost a smile but not quite. She found herself not knowing what to say, how to proceed, but looked out his tall, narrow window and saw that night had settled in, deciding she should also.

(Cullen’s ladder came to mind. She pushed the thought away.)

Cullen seemed to sense an end was near also, because he found her hand and squeezed, as if he’d won a dare with himself.

“Thank you, Inquisitor.”

“You said that.”

Both of them smiled at that.

She was going to add something simple, like, you’re welcome. Or, it’s no trouble. You help me— _I_ mean us, so much, and this is the least I— _we_ can do.

Seriously. Don’t mention it.

But, looking at him, seeing him look back at her… she found she didn’t want to say any of those things.

There was something else she wanted to do, however.

Grabbing courage and tossing hesitance out the window, she drew closer. Cullen watched her, his breath catching in his chest, as his heartbeat rapidly sped up…

She gently kissed his cheek. Warm, soft, slow. She found she enjoyed the way his stubble felt against her lips, prickly and delightful.

He, in turn, found himself thinking he wanted her this near again.

Their faces remained close. Both felt the heat and desire and _want_ to draw closer, like their hearts, beating, beating, beating...

Finally, she blinked.

“Goodnight, Cullen.”

“Goodnight Evelyn.”  

It was the first time he’d used her name.

She couldn’t stop smiling after she’d walked out the door.

And Cullen, when he went to bed that night, touched the place on his cheek she had kissed, finding himself smiling too.

It wouldn’t be long until they smiled in bed together.


End file.
